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The General Tarleton, Yorkshire Dales

Chef Tommy Banks, one of Yorkshire’s favourite foodie sons, is most famous for his award-winning restaurant the Black Swan at Oldstead, but he’s no stranger to pubs. Actually, the Black Swan started out as one, with Banks serving drinks at his family’s establishment before graduating to the kitchen. Recently, he opened Abbey Inn in Byland, and he has recently launched a hospitality arm dedicated to restoring other pubs across the UK. First up is General Tarleton with eight rooms in the village of Ferrensby, near Harrogate. The cuisine is exceptional, with refined versions of traditional pub dishes made with local produce – the perfect fuel for walks along the river and into Nidd Gorge, a scenic local area.

The Bat and Ball, Oxfordshire Countryside

Dogs lounge by the fireplace and dog collars at the bar at this quaint inn in the village of Cuddesdon, best known for its clergy college. It launched at the start of the year by the owners of the Lamb Inn in nearby Little Milton, and the chefs at both locations cut their teeth at the esteemed Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons down the road. The Bat and Ball is the more casual of the pair – it even features a dartboard – and menu items elevate classic pub food and enhance them with premium local produce. The five bedrooms have walls painted in deep fall colors to match the nearby landscape, which is nestled between the Cotswolds and Chilterns.

Kings Arms Inn, Lakeland

This independently run inn, which relaunched at the end of August, is at the heart of the Lakeland village of Hawkshead, around the corner from the Beatrix Potter gallery and the Hawkshead Grammar School museum, where a young William Wordsworth carved his name into his desk. There’s plenty of history in the oak beams and stone floors at the King’s Arms too, which originates in the 1600s. At the dark-wood bar is a selection of regional ales including Coniston Old Man Ale and Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, while the food leans towards classic with Cumberland scotch eggs and beef wellington. The perfect meal to be tucking into after a stomp up nearby Latterbarrow fell.

The Wellington at Boscastle, Cornish Coast

Affectionately called The Welly, this centuries-old coaching inn overlooks Boscastle harbour on Cornwall’s dramatic north coast. A local brewery recently invested heavily doing it up, and it shows in the cosy dining rooms, snugs and stained glass panelling. The best rooms are the turret suites with standalone tubs, but every room come with local art on the walls and ordnance survey maps and guidebooks for the coast path for walks. The path runs right outside: west to Tintagel Castle, birthplace of King Arthur as per myth, or round past Pentargon waterfall. Post-hike, there’s pints of local ale by the fire and plates of fish and chips to look forward to, made with fresh local fish in Gem Ale batter.

Woolpack Inn, Hampshire

Recently renovated by renowned designer Nina Campbell, this rural inn is the centre of life in the small village of Totford in peaceful Candover Valley. Set amid fields and forests, so chef Luke Stradling has abundant regional ingredients to draw on – supplemented by the pub’s sizeable vegetable garden, right now filled with pumpkin, celeriac and winter leaves. As well as supplying almost all the vegetables on the menu, staff also contribute 20% of the harvest to community charities and homeless shelters. Upstairs, eight bedrooms are named after game birds, but it’s fly fishing the local main attraction – casting for trout in the world renowned chalk stream of the River Itchen.

Fleur de Lys Inn, Dorset Countryside

Pub and restaurant firm Chickpea has nailed the modern country pubs with rooms formula – excellent cuisine, welcoming bar and keen prices for overnighters. The newest member to the fold is Fleur de Lys, a historic inn in the village of Cranbourne. The novelist Thomas Hardy was a frequent visitor here and makes reference to it in Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The renovation reflects its period charm: hops drape over the large open fireplace, candles glow on tables and, upstairs, nine rooms are decorated in subdued tones. Trails loop around Cranborne Estate, with dishes such as Brixham sea bass, venison barnsley chop and toffee pudding to look forward to back at the pub afterwards.

The Penny Bun, North Yorkshire

Named after a mushroom found in local woods, the Penny Bun is a break from conventional pubs. With its clay-plastered walls and palette of earthy browns, the style is minimalist than traditional pub fixtures. Between Ilkley and Otley in the Yorkshire Dales, the recently opened pub is part of the Denton Reserve, a 2,500-acre estate undergoing an eco-friendly overhaul, focusing on carbon capture and sustainable agriculture. It supplies many of the ingredients found on the menu at the Penny Bun, such as pork croquette salad or gnocchi with roasted garden beetroots. The serene decor particularly suits the five rooms (the plum one comes with a freestanding bath), with plush beds to sink into after walks across Ilkley Moor, right outside the front door.

The Ship, Norfolk

This summer, The Peyton sisters revitalized this seaside inn with nine rustic rooms in the village of Brancaster. The cooking here has Mediterranean influences, and while menus have one eye on the sea (a short walk from the coast), local game is the star turn in autumn. On Sundays, expect roasted venison served with foraged mushrooms instead of traditional meats, while in the bar relax by the fireplace and enjoy a mangalitza pork sausage roll or monkfish scampi with a pint of Moon Gazer Ale. Outside, the vast skies look especially arresting at this time of year – watch for flocks of pink-footed geese – and walks cut through dunes and marshes.

Leicester Arms Inn, Kent

Opposite from the entrance to Penshurst Place, this Grade II-listed pub is more attractive than ever after a major renovation last year. No wonder it scooped Kent’s county prize at the 2025 National Bar and Pub Awards: there are plush armchairs by the fire in the bar, authentic Kent ales from a local brewery, and cut-above cooking in the dining room. The menu focuses on local produce, with lamb scotch egg and oysters from Whitstable, while the 11 botanically named bedrooms are decorated in an attractive heritage style. Four of them come with clawfoot tubs for post-walk soaks after a ramble around the Penshurst Estate past River Medway, lakes and giant oak trees.

Swan Inn, Sussex Countryside

The two-and-a-half year refurbishment of this historic inn in Fittleworth on the South Downs was worth the wait. Period details from its medieval origins mix with modern comfort in the bar, restaurant and 12 beautifully designed rooms – though it remains “proudly old fashioned”, says the owner. Dining in the wood-paneled, art-adorned dining room draw on local seasonal ingredients (foraged ceps and plum pudding on our visit) and generous breakfasts are served in a barn in the pretty gardens. Historic guestbooks are interesting: famous visitors include JMW Turner, John Constable and Rudyard Kipling. Nearby activities abound, from browsing antiques in local villages to downland walks, Petworth House and Arundel Castle.

Nevill Arms Inn, Leicestershire Countryside

With its picturesque villages, pretty market towns and rolling countryside, the Welland valley is in a part of the country sometimes referred to as the Notswolds (like the Cotswolds but without the price tag). Nevill Arms in the village of Medbourne was refurbished in 2023, with 10 bedrooms (some with four-poster beds) spread between the pub and its converted stables – and next year they’ll add a stone cottage next door too. Culinarily, meats are reared on the owner’s farm, while in the blue bar there’s a changing selection of Langton Brewery beers on tap – the most popular of which is an amber bitter, Inclined Plane, named after the lift at nearby Foxton Locks.

New Inn, Lancashire

Young couple Ben and Lauren Sandiford took on the running of this seven-room inn in April. Ben brought his chef experience to the kitchen, which now turns out elevated comfort dishes (shepherd's pie with mash and ewe’s cheese crumb or beef and ale suet pudding) to be eaten in the beamed dining room beside the log burner. The bar is filled with locals sipping on